By NATARIO McKENZIE

Tribune Business Reporter

nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net

The Government is prepared to “put its money where its mouth is” to ensure compliance with global anti-money laundering and terrorism financing standards, the Attorney General said yesterday.

Allyson Maynard-Gibson said the national anti-money laundering and terrorism financing risk assessment being facilitated by the World Bank will provide the framework for the necessary policies and actions to be taken.

Speaking at the opening of a three day national money laundering and risk assessment workshop, Mrs Maynard-Gibson said the Government would use the assessment’s findings to determine how best to allocate its resources to tackle financial crimes, protect this nation’s financial sector and confiscate ill-gotten assets.

“The NRA (National Risk Assessment) will provide the framework for the appropriate policies and actions to be taken toward preventing, mitigating and managing these risks,” said Mrs Maynard-Gibson.

“The results of the NRA will be able to ascertain the most effective allocation of our resources to eradicate the scourge of financial crimes, to protect our financial system and to confiscate ill-gotten assets. We know that hitting people where it hurts most, that is their pocket, is very effective.”

She added that the World Bank’s NRA tool will allow for self-assessment using seven modules. “Each module will be managed by a dedicated working group of persons comprising regulatory agencies, government departments and, very importantly, the private sector and civil society representatives,” said Mrs Maynard-Gibson.

“We all know that financial crimes know no borders. That is why we have committed to ensuring that every effort will be made to show the world that the Bahamas will not be used to facilitate criminal activities.

“The Government of the Bahamas is committed to making every effort to meeting and complying with global standards. We are not just saying this. It will be seen that we are also deploying the resources to accomplish this.

“We are putting our money wehere our mouth is. We know that properly identifying and assessing money laundering and terrorism financing risk is important to establishing and maintaining the strongest possible regulatory regime.”

While confirming that yesterday’s workshop marked the first phase of the NRA, Mrs Maynard-Gibson said the second would consist of guidance by the World Bank’s team in the Bahamas on completing risk assessment templates.

After that, a draft report will be provided by the World Bank explaining preliminary risk assessment results. “The third phase will bring the World Bank team back to the Bahamas for a meeting with policymakers and senior workshop participants. At the culmination of the entire NRA process, the Bahamas will be provided with a comprehensive national risk assessment report,” said Mrs Maynard-Gibson.

“Our doors are open and we want to make sure that we understand what the risks are, what the weaknesses are, how we can fix them. We are fully committed to the CFATF and the FATF requirements for combating money laundering and the financing of terrorism, and to developing the financial services industry.”